UAE Abu Dhabi 2016 - Yas Marina [Finale in the desert twilight]

[Nitrodaze]

THE FINALE IN THE DESERT TWILIGHT

This is one of my favorite Hermann Tilke track, built on the man made Yas Marina island. Mostly made from reclaimed land from the Persian Sea. It hosted its first grand prix on the 1st November 2009. It is a twilight race, hence a spectacular flood lite 5.5km track offering 55 of the most thrilling laps through the cool air of the sandy desert.

The track is shaped like some futuristic gun or power drill consisting of twenty one corners and two major fast straights. Hence, it is a track of two halves; the engine grunt half where the Mercedes and Ferrari would be dominant, and the twisty halve where aerodynamic supremacy dominates. It is essentially a track that suites the Mercedes cars perfectly. But it also offers a great opportunity for the Redbull to be closer to Mercedes.

Sebastian Vettel is the most successfull driver to race this circuit, winning it 3 times. Vettel also has the historical honor of being the first F1 driver to win on this track. The lap record of 1:40:279 was set by Vettel in 2009 while driving the Redbull RB5 designed by Adrian Newey; a car Vettel fondly called Kate. Lewis Hamilton has won it twice, Kimi and Rosberg are the only other drivers to have won this track. Each winning it once. Rosberg was the last winner of the Yas Marina circuit.

Every so often, l watch the Bahrain 2014 race and wish we get to see Rosberg and Hamilton race each other like that again. One hopes to see that at this Abu Dhabi weekend. But l fear, Rosberg has much to lose, hence would not want to take any risk in a close quarter fight for the win.

With 5 points to spare, it is a weekend that may see the crowning of a new F1 drivers champion. Rosberg does not want a repeat of the 2014 race, which saw him out of contention due to a reliability issue. As long as Rosberg finishes on the podium if Hamilton wins, he would be crowned the champion of 2016. If Hamilton do not win the race and Rosberg finishes 4th or higher he would be world champion. A Rosberg DNF would hand the title to Hamilton, as long as Hamilton finishes 7th or higher.

See details of the permutations here.

The Redbulls and possibly Ferrari have the chance to get in the mix of the title battle. A carefull Rosberg may be seen as prey this weekend. Hence, he must have a great start to keep the Redbulls at bay. For Hamilton, this is a must win race as anything could happen over the 55 laps of this race.

[zako85]

[IMG].. Mostly made from reclaimed land from the Persian Sea.

Gulf.

[Nitrodaze]

Gulf.

Same difference ;-)

[Nitrodaze]

That was a display of supremacy by Hamilton in Q3. He raised the bar each time he laid down a fast lap. Everyone was just playing catch up. The cool thing about it was, each run was quite a gap from second place man Rosberg. The Q3 time [1:38:755] was roughly 3 tenths off the fastest qualifying lap ever done on this track. That was in the pre-hybrid era by Vettel in the 2011 Redbull-Renault and was at 1:38:481.

The best chance possible for Rosberg to have a trouble free race this weekend, was to start the race on pole. He was clearly trying hard to achieve that today, but Hamilton had the legs on him all the way from Q1 to Q3.

Rosberg may have been spared the fiesty dutchman Verstapenn, but he has Ricciado on his tail who l think would not mind taking the highest podium step possible if he smells a chance. It is looking like it may turn out to be a cracking race, assuming the Ferrari and Redbull remain in the mix.

I wonder, with the constructors championship settled, would Hamilton back Rosberg into the Redbull and Ferrari and see what shakes?

[Zico]

I wonder, with the constructors championship settled, would Hamilton back Rosberg into the Redbull and Ferrari and see what shakes?

I might get fired by Merc but I'd probably do just that if I was Lewis.

Am I alone in thinking that way and does that make me a bad person?

[Nitrodaze]

I might get fired by Merc but I'd probably do just that if I was Lewis.

Am I alone in thinking that way and does that make me a bad person?

Nope, just duking it with the competition ;-)

[steveaki13]

I might get fired by Merc but I'd probably do just that if I was Lewis.

Am I alone in thinking that way and does that make me a bad person?

No you are not. What other choice has Hamilton got?

He cant just lead and hope Nico breaks down. There is nothing wrong IMO with slowing the pace to try and get other cars involved.

Mercedes bosses saying they have told Hamilton not to do any of that, but then Lewis has no way of winning it. Without massive luck

[Sulland]

Had I been the manager of Mercedes F1, I would have sacked Hamilton tomorrow!
teamplayers like that are not the kind you need!

[Nitrodaze]

Had I been the manager of Mercedes F1, I would have sacked Hamilton tomorrow!
teamplayers like that are not the kind you need!

If Mercedes sacks Hamilton, it would be a clear as day statement that they manufactured the resulting driver champion of 2016. The race was a fight between two drivers, the constructor title has been won, hence what was left had nothing to do with mercedes really but between Rosberg and Hamilton.

It was disappointing that they felt the need to interfere in the fight for driver's title. Which also suggest that they favour the outcome or have a vested interest in it at least. The sanitized racing that they have enforced with their so called rules of engagement is one reason that this season was a bit dull with no real fight for the drivers title.

In the end, the race ended as it should. And Rosberg regardless of Hamilton's antics still won the title.

I really hope that the pack is truly closer and more competitive next season, It would be great to see the end of mediocre seasons such as this one.

[AndyL]

Had I been the manager of Mercedes F1, I would have sacked Hamilton tomorrow!
teamplayers like that are not the kind you need!

It was interesting that when Martin Brundle asked Lewis if he was expecting to be summoned to the boss's office, Lewis said he was looking forward to it. The implication being that he intended to give as good as he got: that if the management castigated him for failing to heed the order, then he intended to rebuke them for issuing it.